H. B. 2184
(By Delegates Richards and Houvouras)
[Introduced February 18, 1993; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend chapter twenty-one of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article three-c, relating
to elevator safety; hiring, certification and suspension of
elevator inspectors; registration, inspection and
certification of elevators; safety equipment required;
enforcement and rules; and providing criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter twenty-one of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article three-c, to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 3C. ELEVATOR SAFETY.
§21-3C-1. Definitions.
(1) "Certificate of operation" means a certificate issued by
the division of labor authorizing the operation of an elevator
which must be conspicuously posted on the elevator at all times.
(2) "Division" means the division of labor.
(3) "Elevator" means all the machinery, construction,
apparatus and equipment used in raising and lowering a car, cage
or platform vertically between permanent rails or guides and
includes all elevators, power dumbwaiters, escalators, gravity
elevators and other lifting or lowering apparatus permanently
installed between rails or guides, but does not include hand
operated dumbwaiters, manlifts of the platform type with a
platform area not exceeding nine hundred square inches,
construction hoists or other similar temporary lifting or
lowering apparatus.
(4) "Freight elevator" means an elevator used for carrying
freight and on which only the operator, by the permission of the
employer, is allowed to ride.
(5) "Inspector" means a person hired by a county or
municipality who has passed the required West Virginia state
elevator inspector examination and is thereby qualified to
conduct safety inspections on elevators.
(6) "Passenger elevator" means an elevator that is designed
to carry persons to its contract capacity.
§21-3C-2. Inspectors; certificates of competency; application;
examination; reexamination.
No person may act as an inspector of elevators unless he or
she holds a certificate of competency from the division.
Application for examination as an inspector of elevators
shall be in writing, accompanied by a fee of ten dollars, upon ablank to be furnished by the division, stating the school
education of the applicant, a list of his or her employers, his
or her period of employment and the position held with each. An
applicant shall also submit a letter from one or more of his or
her previous employers certifying as to his or her character and
experience.
Applications shall be rejected which contain any willful
falsification or untruthful statements. Such applicant, if the
division deems his or her history and experience sufficient,
shall be tested by means of a written examination dealing with
the construction, installation, operation, maintenance and repair
of elevators and their appurtenances and the applicant shall be
accepted or rejected on the merits of his or her application and
examination.
The division shall issue a certificate of competency in the
inspection of elevators to any applicant found competent upon
examination. A rejected applicant shall be entitled, after the
expiration of ninety days, and upon payment of an examination fee
of ten dollars, to another examination. Should an applicant fail
to pass the prescribed examination on second trial, he or she
will not be permitted to be an applicant for another examination
for a period of one year after the second failure.
Any person hired as an elevator inspector by a county or
municipality must possess a certificate of competency issued by
the division.
§21-3C-3. Suspension or revocation of certificates.
A certificate to serve as an inspector may be suspended or
revoked by the division for the incompetence or untrustworthiness
of the holder thereof, or for the falsification of any matter or
statement contained in his or her application or in a report of
any inspection.
§21-3C-4. Registration of elevators; notification to counties
and municipalities.
The owner or operator of any elevator shall register with
the division every elevator operated by him or her, giving the
type, capacity and description, name of manufacturer, and purpose
for which each is used. Such registration shall be made on a
form to be furnished by the division. The division shall forward
a list of these elevators to the county or municipality wherein
said elevators are located.
§21-3C-5. Powers and duties of counties and municipalities;
annual inspections required.
A county or municipality may hire its own elevator inspector
or contract with any person who possesses a West Virginia
elevator inspector's certificate of competency issued by the
division. The county or municipality shall ensure that every
passenger elevator or escalator is inspected annually. All
freight and other elevators may be inspected on a regular basis
as determined by the county or municipality.
§21-3C-6. Report of inspection; hearing on construction plans
and specifications; findings and orders of
division.
Every inspector shall forward to the division and to the
county or municipality wherein the elevator is located a full
report of each inspection made of any passenger elevator, showing
the exact condition of the elevator, and the inspector shall
leave a copy of the report at the elevator on the day the
inspection is completed.
If any passenger elevator requires certain changes or
repairs to make it reasonably safe to operate, such
recommendations shall be made by the inspector upon his or her
report and a copy of such report as approved by the division
shall be given to the owner or operator of such elevator, and
unless appealed, upon compliance therewith, and upon the payment
of the fees required by law, the division shall issue a
certificate of operation for a capacity not to exceed that named
in the report of inspection, which certificate is valid for one
year after the date of inspection.
If construction plans or an application of specifications is
not approved in accordance with section nine of this article, the
division shall state in writing the necessary changes to obtain
approval and the owner or operator shall be given a copy thereof,
and unless appealed, upon compliance therewith, the division
shall approve such plans or specifications and issue a permit for
construction.
Such owner or operator, within twenty days from receipt of
the copy of such report or statement of changes in plans or
specifications, may make written application to the division,upon forms to be furnished by the division for a hearing on the
report or the statement regarding changes in plans or
specifications as to whether the elevator in question is
reasonably safe or whether the elevator is constructed in
accordance with such plans and specifications would be reasonably
safe. The division shall promptly consider such application and
proceedings consistent with the provisions of this section.
If it appears from the evidence that the elevator will be
reasonably safe to operate without such changes or repairs as
shown in such report or by making only a part or all thereof, or
if none or only part of all the changes in the plans or
specifications are found necessary to make the elevator
reasonably safe, the division shall make its finding and order
accordingly. If such finding and order requires changes or
repairs to be made in the elevator or changes in the plans or
specifications, the division shall, upon the payment of the
required fees, issue a certificate of operation when such order
has been executed or issue its approval of the plans or
specifications. If the finding and order of the division has
been affirmed or modified by appeal, on the grounds of reasonable
safety considered by the division, then the division shall, upon
compliance with such order, and the payment of required fees,
issue such certificate of operation or issue its approval of the
plans and specifications but, if such finding and order of the
division has been vacated such certificate of operation, upon the
payment of fees or such approval of plans and specificationsshall be issued forthwith. No elevator may be operated after
being inspected without having such certificate of operation
conspicuously posted thereon, except pending a hearing on the
issuance thereof.
§21-3C-7. Safety equipment.
Every passenger elevator shall be equipped, maintained and
operated, with respect to the supporting members, elevator car,
shaftways, guides, cables, doors and gates, safety stops and
mechanism, electrical apparatus and wiring, mechanical apparatus,
counterweights and all other appurtenances in accordance with the
rules as are authorized in respect thereto. Where reasonable
safety is obtained without complying to the literal requirements
of such rules as in cases of practical difficulty or unnecessary
hardship, the literal requirements of such rules are not
required.
§21-3C-8. Certificate of operation; renewal.
No certificate of operation for any passenger elevator may
be issued until such elevator has been inspected and the report
thereof filed with the division. Such certificate of operation,
when issued, shall bear the date of inspection and shall be
renewed as of the date of the subsequent inspection if such
inspection is made at least one year after the issuance of such
certificate. If such inspection is made during the year such
certificate is in force, the renewal date shall be one year from
the date of the certificate being renewed and the renewal
certificate shall show the date of inspection.
§21-3C-9. Permits for erection or repairs.
Before any new elevator of a permanent nature is erected or
before any existing elevator is removed to a different location,
an application of specifications in duplicate shall be submitted
to the division giving such information concerning the
construction, installation and operation of the elevator as the
division may require on forms to be furnished by the division,
together with complete construction plans in duplicate. In all
cases where any changes or repairs are made which alter the
elevator's construction or classification, grade or rated lifting
capacity, except when made pursuant to a report of an inspector,
an application containing such information and specifications in
duplicate shall be submitted to the division. Upon approval of
such application and construction plans, the division shall issue
a permit for the erection or repair of such elevator. No new
elevator may be operated until completion, in accordance with the
approved plans and specifications, unless a temporary permit is
granted by the division.
§21-3C-10. Enforcement; notice of defective machinery.
If the division or inspector finds that a passenger elevator
or a part thereof does not afford reasonable safety, the division
or the inspector may post a notice upon such elevator prohibiting
further use of the elevator until the changes or alterations set
forth in the notice have been made to the satisfaction of the
division or the inspector. The notice shall contain a statement
that operators or passengers are subject to injury by itscontinued use, a description of the alternation or other change
necessary to be made in order to secure safety of operation, date
of such notice, name and signature of inspector issuing the
notice.
If any inspector finds a passenger elevator to be so unsafe
as can be reasonably expected to offer imminent danger of death
or physical injury that unit shall be sealed out of service, a
hazard notice posted thereon and the division shall be notified
immediately as to the location and condition of the unit.
Any passenger elevator, once sealed, may not be operated
except for the purpose of effecting repairs and in such a manner
as prescribed by the division, until all defects are corrected
and the unit has been inspected and certified as safe by the
division.
Sealing shall consist of rendering a passenger elevator unit
inoperable by disconnecting power or by placing a sealing device
on the operation switch and ordering such additional measures to
be effected by the owner, such as erection of barricades, as may
be required to prevent use of or public access to the unit.
No seal, notice or barricade placed on or around an elevator
in accordance with the provisions of this article may be removed,
obstructed or in any way altered without the written consent of
the division.
§21-3C-11. Rules.
The division shall promulgate rules pursuant to the
provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code exclusively forthe safety and inspection of passenger elevators. The division
may prescribe by rule the fee to be charged for each inspection.
All fees established and regulated by this section shall be
payable to the division except as may be provided in a specific
written agreement between the division and the counties or
municipalities wherein the elevators are located.
§21-3C-12. Penalties.
Any person who violates any provision of this article or any
directive or order issued pursuant thereto is guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
less than fifty dollars nor more than one thousand dollars. Each
day the violation continues constitutes a separate offense. All
fines collected for violation of this section shall be forwarded
to the division, which shall pay the same into the state treasury
to the credit of the school fund.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish guidelines
for elevator safety in the state and to provide for inspection of
elevators and the hiring and certification of elevator
inspectors.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.